Weak

We live, of course, a great moment in terms of building new libraries. From various government has been committed and driven, quite clearly and openly for the libraries. And since the public has responded to this impulse, also bluntly, filling the library and turning them into the main public facility, social and community in our cities. We have today in Barcelona and throughout Catalonia, a dense network of libraries that works and responds to information needs, recreational and leisure for all citizens. Sometimes I think maybe the government,to some extent, things are much clearer to us that as a professional group still do not know too well what we are. We are immersed in a golden era in which there iswide recognition of the library community and its social function, but on the contrary, still involved in a serious identity crisis, and this makes us weak. There is a serious contradiction between the social visibility of libraries and the social visibility of the group. A condition that makes us go lame, and not let us get toeverything that we could achieve. Without the collective commitment by clearlyown group, although we believe it all together and without which we feel strong and capable, all under one umbrella, will remain a group of second and no realdecision-making capacity and influential. For pure survival, we need to become a real think tank on issues and matters that we believe the priority for the profession. We need positions, we need to be decisive in a cross, of course, but with our leadership and force.